Tennant's in it to win it: Ripley High gets their man

RIPLEY - On Thursday, the Jackson County Board of Education confirmed that David Tennant was hired as the new Ripley High football coach, effective immediately.

"We voted unanimously to accept the recommendation for Mr. David Tennant for the position," said Jackson County Schools Superintendant Blaine Hess.

Ripley High Principal Will Hosaflook made the recommendation to the board on Wednesday morning after two weeks of interviews for the position. While Tennant's name wasn't on the agenda for the BOE meeting on Thursday, Hosaflook and Hess confirmed the recommendation on Wednesday.

"I am very pleased with our choice and I am confident in my recommendation," said Hosaflook.

The 1999 graduate of Wahama High School and former Ohio University gridder will take over for Jimmy Frashier who won 36 games over 10 seasons at Ripley and moved on to accept an administrative position at Ravenswood High School.Tennant, the 22nd Viking football coach in school history, notched a (9-11) record over two seasons at Eastern High in Reedsville Ohio and will address the Ripley team on Monday.

"I am excited to get started and talk to the team," said Tennant. "We have a lot of work to do."

It was confirmed on Friday that Tennant had asked for resignations from all varsity assistant coaches and all coaches of the freshman squad from last season.

While paid assistant coaches cannot be fired by Tennant it is clear that the 31 year-old skipper prefers to go in another direction with the program.Former Ravenswood High offensive coordinator Kemp Kelly has come aboard to run the Viking offense. Tennant confirmed Kelly's hiring but balked at going further into his staff.

"We are still evaluating our staff at the moment. I will say that I am pleased with where we are going," said Tennant.The Vikings, like many prep teams, will be running their version of the spread offense to utilize the special talents of Viking skill position players like Trevor Tucker, Jake Martin and Kade Harrison.

Class AAA Ripley was (5-5) last season and will return multiple starters for the 2013 campaign. The Vikings are members of the Mountain State Athletic Conference.

Tennant and his family make their home in Letart and he currently teaches physical education at Fairplain and Cottageville Elementary Schools.